Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to methods of manufacturing electrosurgical instruments capable of electrically treating tissue.
Background of Related Art
Various different processes are employed for depositing conductive film coatings, or inks, onto a substrate. Such processes include atomic layer chemical vapor deposition, combustion chemical vapor deposition, hot wire chemical vapor deposition, rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition, aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition, direct liquid injection chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition, laser chemical vapor deposition, pressurized chemical vapor deposition, vapor phase epitaxy, cathodic arc deposition, electron beam physical vapor deposition, evaporative physical vapor deposition, pulsed laser physical vapor deposition, sputter physical vapor deposition, hybrid physical-chemical deposition, and other deposition processes.
More recently, additive manufacturing processes, such as direct-write deposition, have been developed for accurately depositing complex patterns and/or architectures of material onto a substrate. Direct-write deposition, for example, involves the use of a nozzle, or pen-like device that is controlled by computer aided design (CAD) software to deposit a specific pattern and/or architecture of material on the substrate.
Deposition processes, such as those mentioned above, are commonly used in semiconductor fabrication, although they also have applicability in a wide range of other fields. In particular, the ability to form electrode(s) by depositing conductive material onto an insulative substrate in complex patterns and architectures and/or on substrates having various different configurations has found application in energy-based surgical instrument manufacturing. However, electrosurgical electrodes having irregular edges formed during the deposition process may cause arcing upon application of energy thereto, which may ultimately damage surrounding tissue.